A fun day for family, charity

As the gift that keeps on giving, the Al Mouj Muscat Marathon goes above and beyond, on almost every level. On Saturday, following on from a successful athletic experience with the Marathon itself on Friday, the charity and family events were a stunning success.
Event Ambassador Paula Radcliffe again threw herself into her duties with passion and enthusiasm, and the event organizers, Oman Sail, went ‘once more into the breach,’ with their ‘hi-viz,’ garbed management crew, blue-shirted, and yellow-shirted volunteer teams, to provide safe running and racing, for the second consecutive day. Event start announcer and himself a former internationally ranked athlete, Ireland’s Eion Flynn, wound up 2000 starters in the 5km Charity Fun Run, in his inimitable style, and by the time they set off, with Radcliffe, David Graham (Oman Sail), and Paul Starrs (Oman Air), again on the starters podium, they were having some serious fun!
In a triumph for Oman athletics, nationally and regionally ranked athlete, Obaid Al Jabri took the honors by around 100 metres with a strong victory. Coming off a recent 8km event win in Jordan recently, so in excellent form, he proved too strong for Ayoub Al Rashdi, with Wadhah Al Faliti only a few metres away. As it turned out, the Omani rout extended to providing nine of the first ten to finish in this event. The women’s event though, was a triumph for the long-striding American Zaina Dabous, in 23min 31sec, over gutsy Brit Victoria Cropper only 100 metres back, in what was effectively a two-horse-race, as Mila Jovovic of Serbia was two minutes back in third.
This event though raising significant funds for the local charities, was also notable for its diverse participants, with athletes taking part, but many definitely treating it as the ‘fun run,’ it was branded, not looking for medals or times, but as a personal statement it seemed, of enthusiasm or determination, very much in line with the positive, healthy lifestyles philosophies extolled by the Under Secretary for the Ministry of Tourism HE Maitha Al Mahrouqi.
British School Muscat pupil, Nathan Byford, was super impressive carved out a barely believable 13:25 in winning the boys 3km event for 11 and 12 year olds, while Harvey Graham, in front of his father, Oman Sail supremo David, and mother Helen, proved a gallant runner-up, just ahead of Habib Al Mahruqi. Of the girls, Eva Victoria Schnieder-Reine triumphed for the Allez Les Bleu, with Assia Samim of Morroco close-up, and Lucie Cordahi providing France with the third podium position.
In the 9 and 10 year age group 2km boys, Omanis Osama Al Rahbi, in first, and Abdulrahman Al Tuhami were split by expat Indian Barghav Ramanathan. Meanwhile Justine Duboe, first, Klervi Hermant in second, and Charlotte Lejeune Jabre in third, ensured French runners filled the podium for the girls. Remarkably, these three girls all finished inside the first 20 finishers overall. The final event, for the 7 and 8-year-olds, saw Omani Ammar Lamki in just a tick over three minutes ahead of a gallant Ahmed Al Shukery, with R Nahul of India in third. France’s Eugenie Delannoy triumphed ahead of the UK’s Mary Eve Alane and another French girl, in Nael Dauba.

It’s perhaps just a wee bit churlish to have winners, when there are no losers, and that’s the overall impression of each of these runs, as proud parents collected their offspring after the kids had rehydrated, showing off their finisher’s medals. One such family was the de Vyts, with Dad Jurgen himself a keen athlete, and Mum Vanessa, prominent in local charity work, daughter Anae in the 3km, and son Julien in the 2km, epitomizing the family nature and mixed fortunes of the day. Anae finished 11th in the girl’s section of the 3km, saying, “I prefer swimming, but this was fun in a different way, and I think I did okay?” While brother Julien got tangled up with another runner and fell, in the 2km, “I’m disappointed,” he said, “but these things happen. I’ll try again next year.” Maybe the parents were just happy their kids are making the ‘right’ lifestyle choices, staying active and healthy? But the whole family embraced the noise, the joy, the music, and the fun of a great day out.
Young Al Ghala Mushrafi will certainly have a story to tell at school tomorrow, and probably for life, as, inconvenienced by losing a shoe, she took the other off, and ran with her shoes in hand, typifying perhaps, all of the young runner’s determination to finish the race, and lo and behold, who should turn up to run the last 100 metres beside her? None other than the fastest marathon women in the world, as Radcliffe worked the oracle once again, encouraging the yellow-clad Mushrafi all the way to the finish, epitomizing Radcliffe, the festival of fun and run, and the competitors and participants, all in a few seconds.
Certainly, the entire two-day event, and what it has evolved to since its inception 8 years ago under the Muscat Road Runners banner, is simply incredible, and as one media identity was heard to comment, “Gosh, if all of these kids bring a friend next year, where will they put them all?” And I guess that’s a question David Graham, Issa Al Saqri, Ghada Al Said, Glyn Broomberg, and the other key organizers will ponder in coming days, as they reflect with satisfaction on a job, very well done.